Universal Messaging enables subscribers to realize the benefits of unified messaging, which consolidates the notification, presentation and management of voice, fax and e-mail messages. With Universal Messaging, a subscriber need only check a single notification device for new messages. Such notification may be provided, e.g., by an e-mail message, message waiting indicator light, stutter dial tone, pager and/or an automatic outdial phone call. Universal Messaging may also include consolidated message presentation. For example, instead of using a telephone handset to pick up voice messages, a fax machine to pick up fax messages, and a PC to pick up e-mail messages, a subscriber could process all of his or her messages with a telephone handset or a multimedia PC, or the like.
A problem encountered in messaging systems concerns the internal format of the stored messages. In particular, for a number of possible reasons, certain information associated with the stored messages (such as e-mail message attributes) may change. Such a change in the message format could be due to changes in messaging standards or features in a new release of the messaging software. The present invention addresses this problem by providing a process whereby the old or outdated internal information is deleted from the database and the internal information about the message is recreated as if it were being delivered for the first time, while leaving the messaging system available for subscriber access and delivery of new messages.
Further background information concerning the construction and operation of messaging systems, and particularly systems employing a Network Applications Platform (NAP) for interfacing a telephone network and network applications running on an enterprise server, may be found in the following patents and copending patent applications:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,004, Jul. 21, 1992, "Digital Computer Platform for Supporting Telephone Network Applications";
U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,710, Aug. 11, 1992, "Apparatus and Method for Providing Recoverability in Mass Storage Data Base Systems Without Audit Trail Mechanisms";
U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,829, Jan. 24, 1995, "Digital Computer Platform for Supporting Telephone Network Applications";
U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,450, Jun. 21, 1994, "Telephone Network Applications Platform for Supporting Facsimile Applications";
U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,606, Feb. 20, 1996, "Multi-Lingual Prompt Management System for a Network Applications Platform";
U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,916, May 27, 1997, "Universal Messaging Service Using Single Voice Grade Telephone Line Within a Client/Server Architecture";
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/944,924, filed Oct. 6, 1997, "Enhanced Multi-Lingual Prompt Management in a Voice Messaging System With Support for Speech Recognition"now U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,166.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/964,744, filed Nov. 5, 1997, "Methods and Apparatus for Providing External Access to Executable Call Flows of a Network Application"; (attorney docket TN079);
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/987,571, filed Dec. 11, 1997, "Multiple Language Electronic Mail Notification of Received Voice and/or Fax Messages"(attorney docket TN091);
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/094,126, filed Jun. 9, 1998, titled "Universal Messaging System Providing Integrated Voice, Data and Fax Messaging Services to PC/Web-based Clients, Including a Session Manager for Maintaining a Session Between a Messaging Platform and the Web-based Clients"; (attorney docket TN094);
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/093,593, filed Jun. 9, 1998, titled "Universal Messaging System Providing Integrated Voice, Data and Fax Messaging Services to PC/Web-based Clients, Including a Content Manager for Receiving Information from Content Providers and Formatting the Same into Multimedia Containers for Distribution to Web-based Clients"; (attorney docket TN095);
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/094,266, filed Jun. 9, 1998, titled "Universal Messaging System Providing Integrated Voice, Data and Fax Messaging Services to PC/Web-based Clients, Including a Large Object Server for Efficiently Distributing Voice/Fax Messages to Web-based Clients"; (attorney docket TN096); and
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/094,026, filed Jun. 9, 1998, "System and Method for Integrating Notification Functions of Two Messaging Systems in a Universal Messaging Solution"(attorney docket TN103).